Using secondary data in Independent Study Report
A question on solely using secondary data in Independent Study (IS) report:
Student question: can I just use secondary data for my IS report?
Answer: it is acceptable to use secondary data (e.g. data from the Government and financial portals); in this case, you do need to apply some statistical analysis to meet learning outcomes; e.g. multiple regression analysis, chi squared test, etc.. just plotting line graph may be acceptable but it would not be sophisticated enough to impress the marker. If you use secondary data, pls discuss in your IS report on the accuracy and reliability of using your set of secondary data.
Student question: Could I just rely on one source of secondary data in my IS report?
Answer: It depends on your research question; sometimes, you may find it useful to use secondary data from more than 1 source in order to carry out the statistical analysis, e.g. financial data from a financial portal and some economic statistics from the Government. In designing your staistical analysis and, subsequently, in analyzing your statistics, it is important to apply some relevant concepts and theories found in your literature review exercise - do not just use common sense to review your statistics. An analysis that is not theory-driven, in most cases, indicates low analysis quality as well as weak literature review quality.
References
Student question: can I just use secondary data for my IS report?
Answer: it is acceptable to use secondary data (e.g. data from the Government and financial portals); in this case, you do need to apply some statistical analysis to meet learning outcomes; e.g. multiple regression analysis, chi squared test, etc.. just plotting line graph may be acceptable but it would not be sophisticated enough to impress the marker. If you use secondary data, pls discuss in your IS report on the accuracy and reliability of using your set of secondary data.
Student question: Could I just rely on one source of secondary data in my IS report?
Answer: It depends on your research question; sometimes, you may find it useful to use secondary data from more than 1 source in order to carry out the statistical analysis, e.g. financial data from a financial portal and some economic statistics from the Government. In designing your staistical analysis and, subsequently, in analyzing your statistics, it is important to apply some relevant concepts and theories found in your literature review exercise - do not just use common sense to review your statistics. An analysis that is not theory-driven, in most cases, indicates low analysis quality as well as weak literature review quality.
References
- On regression analysis: https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10150112164422090.322140.713727089&type=3
- On chi-squared test: https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10150114248382090.323264.713727089&type=3
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